Pastor Stephen Brogli of Bethel Baptist Church in Harrodsburg recently led seven men through a Practical Preaching Workshop, and he offered reflections in an interview with Kentucky Baptist Convention’s north central regional consultant Andy McDonald.
“The workshop has proven to be a powerful tool for strengthening men, deepening biblical understanding and enriching the life of the church,” Brogli said. “The long-term impact is already evident, and there is a great anticipation for what God will continue to do through future groups.”
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The workshop began with nine participants, with seven completing the full course. Several men stepped away due to various life circumstances, Brogli noted. “That’s a strong number. It’s not unusual for life circumstances to prevent some from finishing, so to have seven complete the training was very encouraging.”
To accommodate schedules, Brogli organized eight sessions over a 12-week span, meeting on Sunday evenings. While no additional workshops have been held yet, the success of the initial effort has sparked conversations about making it a regular ministry emphasis. Initially funded through the Kentucky Baptist Convention, the church is now prepared to allocate $1,000 for future workshops.
Developing mentoring groups
Brogli also hopes to develop future preaching mentoring groups, possibly adjusting the name to make it more approachable.
“While we rightly want to emphasize the seriousness of preaching, one of the boarder goals is to help men lead devotionals with their families, better understand and handle God’s Word and grow in biblical literacy.
“Many of our churches are filled with biblically illiterate men, and this workshop helped address that,” he noted. “Those who completed it now have a much stronger understanding of how to rightly divide the Word of God — not just for church life, but for their homes as well.
“We realized that God was doing more than just potentially calling preachers — He was strengthening men spiritually across the board.”
Brogli emphasized that the impact of the mentoring group has been significant.
“There has been tremendous fruit One of the first things that comes to mind is the sweet fellowship we experienced during our time together,” he said. “Beyond that, one unexpected result was a deeper resect among the men for pastoral preaching. They now better understand the work and discipline involved in preparing sermons week after week.
“The workshop provided a clear, structured model for sermon preparation, helping them see that preaching is an ongoing, weekly process.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Mark Maynard and originally published by Kentucky Today.
